Friday Habs Headlines: Julien — “We are still fighting for a place in the playoffs”

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Claude Julien still thinks his team is fighting for a place in the playoffs. [La Presse | Google Translate]
• The failed Riley Barber-Phil Varone experiment has come to an unceremonious end. [The Athletic]
• What is the potential market for Tomas Tatar? [The Athletic]
• Could Jeff Petry be Carolina-bound? [RDS]
• Maybe the Habs should have traded Ilya Kovalchuk earlier? [TSN 690]
• Joel Bouchard is teaching Jesperi Kotkaniemi how the expectations of coaches differ between the AHL and NHL level. [RDS]
• Marc Bergevin’s reset button is broken. [Hockey Inside/Out]
• Going behind the scenes at the AHL All-Star Game with Charles Hudon. [AHL]
• Nathanael Halbert didn’t look too out of place in his first game with the Laval Rocket. [RDS]

Around the league and elsewhere

• The Hurricanes’ hockey moms talk about raising NHLers. [The Athletic]
• Why the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Denis Malgin. [Sportsnet]
• The Minnesota Wild are interested in Vincent Trocheck. [Hockey Wilderness]
• An early look at the top 21 prospects for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. [The Athletic]
• Mark Scheifele is being sued by his former personal chef. [CTV News - Winnipeg]
• Does Leon Draisaitl have an MVP case? [The Athletic]
• Who are the best defencemen available on the market? [Sportsnet]
• Nathan Gerbe has made a career of not being intimidated by players bigger than himself.